Periungual Warts – Definition, Causes, Symptoms.

These warts start off with the size of a pinhead, smooth and not that visible to the naked eye. As weeks pass by, these will grow to the size of a pea, then turn into irregular and rough bumps.

Wart Under Fingernail

Periungual warts can develop under or around fingernails. These are often common among people who bite and pick their nails. The break in the skin allows an easy entry for the virus that causes the development of warts.

Once the virus enters the skin, this can lead to abnormal growth of skin cells, causes the top layer of skin to grow rapidly and forms a rough bump similar to that of a cauliflower. Wart under fingernail can cause some degree of discomfort as they can extend under the nails.

If the area around your nail is cut or bruised, or you have touched warts on other body parts and you don’t wash your hands – there is a high risk that you will develop subungual warts around or beneath your fingernail.

Wart Under Toenail

Periungual warts can also be found in toe nails that can develop among those who usually walk with their bare feet in the public showers as well as areas surrounding swimming pools – in which the virus that causes these warts often thrive in these places with warm and moist environments.

The warts can form large lesions that can become very painful as they continue to grow, and affect your nail’s natural growth.

Periungual warts can cause the nail to be permanently reformed, while there are also cases when it can cause serious problems once the subungual wart reaches the nail plate and eventually lead to fungal infection.

Periungual Wart Treatment And Removal: The Options?

Most warts will eventually go away, but it will take some time. During this prolonged time, periungual warts can:

affect the patient’s quality of life with discomfort such as pain and itchiness.

affect nail growth and cause the nail to be permanently reformed.

bring psychological impact like embarrassment and self-doubt, and

potentially spread to other parts of your body or to other people.

As such, it is recommended to treat the warts as soon as they appear.

The most common periungual warts removal methods are:

Option 1: Periungual Warts Surgery

The doctor will first diagnose then decide which surgery type is the best and most appropriate depending on the location and size of wart you have. The common wart removal procedures are:

Watch the video below in which Dr. Alec Hochstein performed surgical excision of periungual wart around toenail, using a combination of electrocautery and curettage.

While you should check with your local medical institute to determine the exact periungual wart surgery cost, refer below table for your quick reference to get a feel of the consultation fee and surgical wart removal cost range.

1. Surgical procedure by doctors and dermatologists are professional wart removal approach, that includes providing professional consultation to address questions from the wart patients.

2. Surgery for warts is usually quick treatment to remove the wart fast, though it may not permanently get rid of warts, just as what Dr Paul Thomas MD said to his patient: “you got about 50-50 chance the cryotherapy freeze treatment is all you need… but there is also 50-50 chance that we might need to do this again“.

3. Wart surgery can be a good option to remove extremely persistent and stubborn warts that are causing pain or that have been unresponsive to over the counter treatments.

Disadvantages:

1. Surgery is very expensive, and the cost may not be covered by insurance unless it is medically necessary.

2. Wart surgery are painful. For example, patient Chani commented via Chicago Tribune: “I too severely suffered from warts on my nail bed on my hands. I would go to the dermatologist for months at a time, every other week to get them frozen off. Not only was it extremely painful but didn’t even really work.”

3. Some people find visits to doctor are time consuming and embarrassing, while several treatment sessions may be required.

4. Conveniently available to be purchased over-the-counter or online, and available without a prescription at most times.

Disadvantages:

1. Though clinically proven, wart removal cream solution does not offer the same level of professional wart treatment by doctor and dermatologists – who can provide face-to-face consultation to address questions that the wart patients may have.

2. OTC cream treatment does not remove warts overnight, vs surgery that normally get rid of warts as a day surgical procedure.

3. May not be effective to remove extremely stubborn warts.

Periungual Warts Treatment And Removal Review Summary

There is no one single “best” periungual warts removal solution, as different people may have different pain tolerance level, financial capability, and preference on the treatment approach.

This guide should provide an overview on the options of how to get rid of periungual warts, to help you make an educated decision.

While you should consult doctor on removal of subungual wart under fingernail and toenail –

Not all patients afford the hefty medical consultation fee and professional treatment cost, while some may find doctor visits are time consuming and embarrassing, some have concern that invasive surgery may leave scar.

For those who are exploring over the counter treatment, below are the top 2 topical creams that can help periungual warts treatment at home – without prescription required.

Both are all natural products with proven user results, while key difference between the two are their pricing, in which Nevi-Skin is more cost effective than Wart & Mole Vanish cream.

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